Utilizing a scannable image to obtain a network resource request

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing network resource requests are described herein. Servers may be configured to operate in communication with a network. A server, in accordance with embodiments described in the present disclosure, includes a resource request handling program that is stored in a memory device. The resource request handling program is configured to extract an abbreviated resource request into at least an abbreviated site name and a page symbol. The server also includes a database that is configured to store a first relationship between the abbreviated site name and a web site. The database may also store a second relationship between the page symbol and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of a web page associated with the web site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/381,047, filed Mar. 6, 2009, which claimspriority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/068,313, filedMar. 6, 2008, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. The present application is also a continuationapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/836,717, filed Jul.15, 2010, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to accessing resources on anetwork, and more particularly relates to utilizing standardizedsymbology for abbreviated resource requests.

BACKGROUND

Part of the experience of accessing resources or content on a network(e.g., the Internet) is attempting to locate a path to the desiredresource or content. Locating web sites can be done in a number of ways.For example, one way to access a desired web site is by typing a UniformResource Locator (URL) address of the web page into an input section ofa web browser. Alternatively, the user may copy and paste a URL addressinto the input section of the web browser. Examples of various webbrowsers may include Internet Explorer™, Firefox™, Chrome™, Safari™,among others. When the URL address is entered, the web browser isconfigured to locate a remote server adapted to handle the web pagesidentified by the particular URL address. The destination location forthe URL address may be associated with a registered domain name or IPaddress. When the path to the desired web page is established, the webbrowser is configured to retrieve content from the web page and displaythe content on a display screen.

Another way that a user may access a specific web page is by searchingfor the page using one of many available search engines, such asGoogle™, Yahoo!™, Bing™, among others. A user may type a text searchinto a search field of the search engine. In response, the search engineis configured to provide a list of results or hits that may include theweb site or web page that the user is interested in.

It may often be cumbersome or problematic to enter a URL address into aweb browser. For instance, URL addresses tend to be long and/orcomplicated, often including dozens of alphanumeric characters andvarious punctuation marks, such as slashes, underscores, colons,periods, etc. If the user mistypes just one incorrect character, the webbrowser may be unable to connect to the desired web page and typicallyprovides an error message to the user.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for creating andutilizing abbreviated resource requests having symbology that may bestandardized across multiple web sites. In some implementations, a webbrowser that is configured to operate in communication with a networkmay include, among other things, a format analyzing module and a relayserver communication module. The format analyzing module may beconfigured to receive a resource request and analyze whether theresource request is in a normally recognizable format or an abbreviatedformat. The relay server communication module may be configured tocommunicate with a relay server on the network when the format analyzingmodule determines that the resource request is in the abbreviatedformat. The abbreviated format may be defined as a format that includesan abbreviated site name and a suffix.

According to some implementations, a server that is configured tooperate in communication with a network is also described. The servermay include a resource request handling program and a database. Theresource request handling program may be stored in a memory device andmay be configured to extract an abbreviated resource request into atleast an abbreviated site name and a page symbol. The database may beconfigured to store a first relationship between the abbreviated sitename and a web site and store a second relationship between the pagesymbol and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of a web pageassociated with the web site.

The present disclosure also describes a method that includes, accordingto some implementations, receiving a resource request intended torequest a connection with a resource on a network. The method alsoincludes analyzing the format of the resource request to determinewhether the resource request is in a normally recognizable format or anabbreviated format. The normally recognizable format may include anextension selected from one of .com, .net, .org, .gov, .mobi, .tv, etc.The abbreviated format comprising an abbreviated site name and a suffix.The method includes transmitting the resource request to a relay serveron the network when it is determined that the resource request is in theabbreviated format.

According to another embodiment of a method disclosed herein, the methodmay include receiving an abbreviated resource request and extracting astring of characters from the abbreviated resource request. The methodalso includes matching a first portion of the extracted character stringwith a web site, where the first portion comprising an abbreviated sitename. The method also matches a second portion of the extractedcharacter string with an internal web page of the matched web site,where the second portion comprising a page symbol.

Also described in the present disclosure are end user devices. Accordingto various implementations, an end user device may comprise a networkinterface controller configured to enable communication between the enduser device and a network. The end user device may also comprise a webbrowser configured to retrieve content from one or more web pages on thenetwork. Also included are a scanner configured to scan an encoded imageand decoding software associated with the scanner, where the decodingsoftware is configured to decode the encoded image to obtain a resourcerequest. The decoding software is further configured to enter theresource request into an address window of the web browser to enable theweb browser to retrieve content from a web page associated with therequested resource.

Computer programs tangibly stored on a computer readable medium andexecutable by a processing device are also described herein. Oneembodiment of a computer program, among others, includes logic adaptedto receive a scanned image of an encoded resource request and logicadapted to decode the scanned image to obtain a resource request. Thecomputer program also includes logic adapted to analyze a format of theresource request to determine if the format meets a condition in whichan ending of the resource request includes one of .com, .net, .org,.gov, .mobi, .tv, etc. In addition, the computer program includes logicadapted to browse a network when the format meets the condition andlogic adapted to transmit the resource request to a relay server whenthe format does not meet the condition.

Computer-implemented methods are disclosed, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. One embodiment of a methodcomprises receiving a request to reserve an abbreviated name that isconfigured to represent a specific web site. The request is comparedwith a list of abbreviated names already reserved to determine if therequested abbreviated name is available. The method also includesissuing the abbreviated name to the specific web site when it isdetermined that the requested abbreviated name is available. Inaddition, a predefined symbol is matched with a URL address of a webpage associated with the specific web site.

In a further embodiment, a method is provided for receiving a requestfrom an owner of a web site to reserve an abbreviated name to be matchedwith a URL address of the web site. The method also includes issuing theabbreviated name to the owner when it is determined that the abbreviatedname is not already reserved. In addition, a predetermined symbol ismatched with a URL address of a web page associated with the web site.An abbreviated resource request may contain at least the abbreviatedname and the predetermined symbol.

According to another embodiment of a method disclosed herein, the methodmay include receiving a request from an owner of a web site to reservean abbreviated name to be matched with a URL address of the web site andissuing the abbreviated name to the owner when it is determined that theabbreviated name is not already reserved. The method also includesmatching a predetermined symbol with a URL address of a web pageassociated with the web site and matching a predefined advertising codewith an advertising medium, wherein an abbreviated resource requestcomprises at least the abbreviated name, the predetermined symbol andthe predefined advertising code. In one embodiment, the method furtherincludes tracking and recording information regarding advertising mediaand reporting the information regarding the advertising medium to theweb site owner. Additionally, the method may further include extractinginformation about an end user utilizing the abbreviated resourcerequest, where the extracted information regarding the end user isreported to the web site owner. The extracted information regarding theend user may include at least one of time and date information, end userlocation information, personal data and demographic information.

In a further embodiment, the predefined advertising code identifies anoriginating source where the abbreviated resource request is placed,wherein the originating source may be at least one of a magazine, anewspaper, a television commercial and a billboard.

Various implementations described in the present disclosure may includeadditional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which may notnecessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detaileddescription and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all suchsystems, methods, features, and advantages be included within thepresent disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and components of the following figures are illustrated toemphasize the general principles of the present disclosure.Corresponding features and components throughout the figures may bedesignated by matching reference characters.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data sharing system accordingto various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a web site maintained by one ormore of the web servers shown in FIG. 1, according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one or more of the end userdevices shown in FIG. 1, according to various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the web browser shown in FIG. 3,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the relay server shown in FIG. 1,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the abbreviated name managingprogram shown in FIG. 5, according to various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the resource request handlingprogram shown in FIG. 5, according to various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for issuing abbreviatedresource request names, according to various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for establishingrelationships of portions of abbreviated resource requests with aspectsof a web site, according to various implementations of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for handling abbreviatedresource requests, according to various implementations of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to various solutions for simplifying the process of accessingcertain resources on a network, the complicated URL address may bereplaced with a simple word or phrase that directs the user's webbrowser to the desired web site. URL abbreviations may be stored in adatabase of a remote server, which can be accessed by the user's browserthat has been modified to transmit URL abbreviations to the remoteserver. Using a lookup table, the remote server is configured to matchthe abbreviations with an actual URL address.

In addition to handling these abbreviations, the present disclosuredescribes systems and methods for further simplifying the process ofaccessing resources on a network. For example, a home page of a web sitemay provide a good starting point for navigation. However, some websites may include several different internal pages. In this situation, asingle web page may be relatively difficult to find. Thus, it may bebeneficial to include standardized symbology, as described herein, addedto an abbreviation to navigate to a specific web page or group of webpages within a particular web site.

For example, a user may wish to access a network resource according tothe principles discussed in the present disclosure. If the user wantedto visit a web site containing information about the Harry Potter ThemePark using conventional methods, the user would be required to typehttp://www.universal Orlando.com/harrypotter/ into the address window ofthe web browser. However, according to various implementations disclosedin the present disclosure, the user may more easily type “HarryPotter”into the address window (assuming that the owner of this web site hadpreviously registered this abbreviated name, as described in more detailbelow). Furthermore, if the user wished to visit a commerce section ofthe Harry Potter Theme Park web site, the user may type “HarryPotter$”or other similar entries. In this case, the “$” may be established as astandardized request to visit the commerce web pages of a web site, suchas the Harry Potter Theme Park web site according to this example.

Although various implementations of the present disclosure describe“network resources” or simply “resources,” it should be understood thata resource may refer to any type of content retrieved from the networkand may include data, information, files, photographs, video, forms,downloadable software, or other types of content. It should also benoted that other features and advantages will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the general principlesdescribed herein, and all such features and advantages are intended tobe included in the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data sharing system 10.As illustrated, the data sharing system 10 includes a network 12, whichmay include any combination of repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches,routers, and the like. The network 12 is configured to enablecommunication among a plurality of end user devices 14, search engines16, web servers 18, and a relay server 20, to allow the sharing ofresources, information, files, data, etc. The network 12 may include alocal area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the like. In someembodiments, the network 12 may be a global computer network, such asthe World Wide Web or Internet.

According to various embodiments, each end user device 14 may be an enduser's desktop or laptop computer, mobile device (e.g., mobile phone),network access device, or other device capable of accessing resourcesvia the network 12. The search engines 16 may be configured to allow endusers to request text searches to search for specific content related tovarious web sites or web pages. For example, the search engines 16 mayinclude Google™, Yahoo!™, Bing™, or other search engines. Also part ofthe data sharing system 10 are the web servers 18, which may beconfigured to deliver web pages or other content to the end user devices14 upon request. The web servers 18 may deliver documents, files,images, or other resources using hypertext markup language (HTML). Insome embodiments, a single web server 18 may be responsible formaintaining access to resources of a single web site. In otherembodiments, any number of web servers 18 may be needed to maintain anynumber of web sites.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hypothetical web site24 maintained by one or more web servers 18 shown in FIG. 1. In thisembodiment, the hypothetical web site 24 includes a home page 26 and anumber of additional web pages 28 that branch from the home page 26. Therelationship between the pages is shown, although an end user may accessindividual web pages 28 in any order. It should be understood that thehome page 26 is a web page where a user is typically introduced to thehypothetical web site 24. Often, a user may begin browsing the home page26 and then click on hyperlinks leading to other web pages 28. Also, itmay be possible for a user to navigate from one web page 28 to another.To initially access the home page 26 or web pages 28, a user may enter aweb address into a browser of the end user device 14. The browser isconfigured to retrieve content from the home page 26 or web pages 28and/or enable communication between the end user device 14 and the website 24.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of one of the end userdevices 14 shown in FIG. 1. According to the illustrated embodiment, theend user device 14 includes a processing device 32, a memory device 34,input devices 36, output devices 38, and a network interface controller40, each interconnected by way of a bus 42. The network interfacecontroller 40 is configured to enable the end user device 14 tocommunicate with other components in the data sharing system 10. The enduser device 14 also includes a web browser 44, which may includesoftware and may be stored in the memory device 34 as illustrated. Theweb browser 44 may be configured to retrieve content from web pages 26,28 and present the content on a suitable output device 38 (e.g.,computer monitor).

In some embodiments, one of the input devices 36 may include a scanner46 or other suitable type of image capture device. However, regardingimplementations in which a scanning functionality is unnecessary, thescanner 46 may be omitted.

The processing device 32 may be a general-purpose or specific-purposeprocessor or microcontroller for controlling the operations andfunctions of the end user device 14. In some implementations, theprocessing device 32 may include a plurality of processors forperforming different functions within the end user device 14 dependingon the particular design.

The memory device 34 may include one or more internally fixed storageunits, removable storage units, and/or remotely accessible storageunits, each including a tangible storage medium. The various storageunits may include any combination of volatile memory and non-volatilememory. For example, the volatile memory may comprise random accessmemory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), or other suitable type of volatilememory. The non-volatile memory may comprise read only memory (ROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, or othersuitable type of non-volatile memory. The storage units may beconfigured to store any combination of information, data, instructions,software code, etc.

In addition to the optional scanner 46, the input devices 36 may includevarious types of input mechanisms or data entry devices, such askeyboards, keypads, buttons, switches, touch pads, touch screens, cursorcontrol devices, computer mice, stylus-receptive components,voice-activated mechanisms, microphones, cameras, infrared sensors, orother input devices. The output devices 38 may include various types ofoutput mechanisms or data output devices, such as computer monitors,display screens, touch screens, speakers, buzzers, alarms, notificationdevices, lights, light emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, visualdisplay devices, audio output devices, printers, peripheral devices, orother output devices. The input devices 36 and output devices 38 mayalso include interaction devices configured to receive input and provideoutput, such as touch screen devices or other input/output devices forenabling input and/or output communication.

The web browser 44 is configured to perform web browsing or Internetbrowsing functionality, much like Internet Explorer™, Mozilla Firefox™,Chrome™, Safari™, Opera™, or other suitable browsers. However, accordingto various implementations of the present disclosure, the web browser 44is further configured to perform additional functions beyond typical webbrowsing. For example, the web browser 44 may be configured to analyzethe format of a requested network resource. From the analysis of theformat, the web browser may also be configured to determine if theformat is a normally recognizable format, such as one having anextension of .com, .net, .org, .gov, etc., or if it is an abbreviatedformat. These and other functions of the browser 44, in accordance withvarious implementations of the present disclosure, are described in moredetail below with respect to FIG. 4.

The scanner 46 in some embodiments may include a connector for removableattachment to the end user device 14. In other embodiments, the scanner46 may be built into the end user device 14 (e.g., a built-in scanningdevice of a portable electronic device). According to variousimplementations, the scanner 46 may be configured to scan bar codes,advanced bar codes, alphanumeric codes, or the like.

For the purpose of example, a web site owner may encode the address ofone or more web pages in a format that is readable by the scanner 46.The encoded address, for example, may be printed in magazines,newspapers, brochures, advertising flyers, or other printed media.According to other embodiments, the encoded address may be displayed ona television screen, computer monitor, or other display device. The usermay then scan the encoded address with the scanner 46. Decodingsoftware, which may be stored in the memory device 34, web browser 44,and/or within the scanner 46 itself, may be configured to decode thescanned image to obtain a URL address. The decoded address may beautomatically or manually entered into an address field of the webbrowser 44 to retrieve the respective content of the desired web page.In this example, the user may not need to manually type the desired webaddress.

Instead of a URL address being encoded according to the above example,other various implementations may include an encoded string ofcharacters representing a resource request in an abbreviated format. Inthis example, the encoded character string may be scanned from anysuitable advertising media channel, such as those described above. Theencoded resource request, when scanned, can be decoded using anysuitable decoding software. The decoded resource request, in thisexample represented in the abbreviated format, is sent to the webbrowser 44, which is configured to handle such resource requests in theparticular abbreviated format.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the web browser 44 shownin FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the web browser 44 includes a scanreceiving module 48, a search field module 50, a format analyzing module52, a network browsing module 54, and a relay server communicationmodule 56. The scan receiving module 48 may be omitted in theembodiments in which the scanning functionality is not performed. Whenthe scanning functionality is utilized, the scan receiving module 48 maybe configured in some embodiments to decode the scanned information, ifthe decoding has not already been performed by other software. Thedecoded information is converted from a scanned image (e.g., barcodes)to a URL address or an abbreviated resource request. The scan receivingmodule 48 is configured to send the decoded URL address or abbreviatedresource request to the format analyzing module 52.

The search field module 50 is configured to receive a resource request,which may be in the form of a URL address or an abbreviated resourcerequest. The search field module 50 may include a search field windowenabling a user to enter a URL address, either by typing the URL addressinto the search field window or by copying and pasting the URL addressinto the search field window. Typically, the entry in the search fieldwindow is in a format of a URL address for a particular web page.According to the implementations of the present disclosure, however, thesearch field module 50 may also be configured to receive alphanumericsymbology that represents an abbreviated resource request. The searchfield module 50 is also configured to send the entered URL address orabbreviated resource request to the format analyzing module 52.

The format analyzing module 52 may receive a resource request fromeither one of the scan receiving module 48 or search field module 50,depending on how the request is entered. The format analyzing module 52may be configured to analyze the suffix of the resource request todetermine if the resource request includes a normal browsing request.More particularly, the format analyzing module 52 determines if theresource request ends with .com, .net, .org, .gov, .mobi, .tv, or othernormally recognizable suffixes. If the request has a normallyrecognizable suffix, then the format analyzing module 52 sends therequest to the network browsing module 54, which is configured to browsethe network 12 in a typical web browsing fashion. Otherwise, if theresource request has a suffix other than the normally recognizablesuffixes, the format analyzing module 52 sends the resource request tothe relay server communication module 56.

The relay server communication module 56 is configured to communicatewith the relay server 20, which is shown in FIG. 1 and described in moredetail below with respect to FIGS. 5-7. According to variousembodiments, the relay server communication module 56 sends theunconventional resource request (e.g., abbreviated resource request) tothe relay server 20. In response, the relay server 20 is configured tomatch the abbreviated resource request with an entry in a lookupdatabase representing a full URL address of a web page. Also, theabbreviated resource request may include a symbol having a specificmeaning according the various embodiments of the present disclosure.Therefore, instead of allowing a user to merely request a home page of aweb site, the relay server 20 is configured to further allow the user torequest resources of web pages further embedded within or internal tothe web site, such as, for example, an information page of a web site, acustomer service page of the web site, a commerce page of the web site,or other specific web page.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the relay server 20 shownin FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the relay server 20 includes a processingdevice 60, a memory device 62, a database 64, and a network interfacecontroller 66, each interconnected via a bus interface 68. The memorydevice 62 in configured to contain software, such as an abbreviated namemanaging program 69 and a resource request handling program 70, each ofwhich is executable by the processing device 60.

The network interface controller 66 is configured to provide aninterface between the relay server 20 and the network 12. According tovarious implementations, the network interface controller 66 may receiverequests, instructions, commands, or other input from web site owners.The abbreviated name managing program 69 may be configured to respond tothis input to set up a list of abbreviated names that correspond tovarious web sites. When the abbreviated names are matched with websites, the matching information may be stored in the database 64.Thereafter, a resource request using the abbreviated format can bematched in the database 64 with the corresponding web site. In thisrespect, the abbreviated name managing program 69 may be configured toissue or register available abbreviated names to owners' web sites. Thelist of issued or registered abbreviated names stored in the database 64may be accessed thereafter to determine if later requests forabbreviated names are available to the requestor or if they are alreadyissued to another owner.

The abbreviated name managing program 69 may also be configured torespond to the web site owner to notify the owner whether or not therequested name was available and/or whether or not the requested namehas been issued to the requestor. When an owner's web site is issued anabbreviated name, the abbreviated name managing program 69 may befurther configured to assist the web site owner in establishingrelationships or matches between symbols (e.g., periods, commas, colons,semi-colons, question marks, exclamation points, slashes, dashes,ampersands, etc.) and internal web pages of the web site. Theserelationships between symbols and internal pages may also be stored inthe database 64.

After abbreviated names have been correlated with various web sites andmatches have been established between predetermined symbols and webpages, the relay server 20 may be ready to handle abbreviated resourcerequests from end users. When a web browser (e.g., web browser 44 ofFIG. 4) operates in compatibility with the abbreviated format ofresource request as described in the present disclosure, the web browsermay send an abbreviated resource request to the relay server 20. Thenetwork interface controller 66 may receive the abbreviated resourcerequests, and the resource request handling program 70 may be configuredto handle the requests as described in more detail below.

The processing device 60 of the relay server 20 may be a general-purposeor specific-purpose processor or microcontroller for controlling theoperations and functions of the relay server 20. In someimplementations, the processing device 60 may include a plurality ofprocessors for performing different functions within the relay server20. The memory device 62 may include one or more internally fixedstorage units, removable storage units, and/or remotely accessiblestorage units, each including a tangible storage medium. The variousstorage units may include any combination of volatile memory andnon-volatile memory and may be configured to store any combination ofinformation, data, instructions, software code, etc.

The abbreviated name managing program 69 and resource request handlingprogram 70 of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware, or any combinations thereof. In some embodiments,the programs 69 and 70 may be implemented in software or firmware thatis stored on a memory device (e.g., memory device 62) and that isexecutable by a suitable instruction execution system (e.g., processingdevice 60). If some embodiments, the programs 69 and 70 may beimplemented in hardware using discrete logic circuitry, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array (PGA), afield programmable gate array (FPGA), or any combinations thereof.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the abbreviated namemanaging program 69 shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the abbreviatedname managing program 69 includes a name request receiving module 71, arelationship establishing module 72, a database management system 73,and a notification module 74. The database management system 73 isconfigured to manage the information and tables in a database (e.g., thedatabase 64 shown in FIG. 5).

The name request receiving module 71 is configured to receive requestsfrom a web site owner wishing to register or reserve an abbreviated namefor the respective web site. For example, the owner of a web sitedevoted to a particular passenger airline company may wish to registerthe name “Airline” as a shortcut for accessing the company's web site.The name request receiving module 71 is configured to forward requeststo the database management system 73 to determine if the requested namehas already been issued to another company's web site. The databasemanagement system 73 checks the availability of shortcut names bycomparing the requests with entries in the database 64. The notificationmodule 74 notifies the web site owner if the requested name is availableor not.

The relationship establishing module 72 is configured to assist a website owner to establish relationships between predefined symbols andspecific web pages of the subject web site. The relationships mayinclude matching various symbols with the URL addresses of various webpages. For example, the symbol “$” may be matched with a commerce webpage (or URL address of the commerce web page) of the subject web site.Other symbols may be used to point to addresses of various web pages inthe database 64. In some embodiments, the symbols may be standardizedfor each web site. For example, “$” may be a standard symbol used by endusers for accessing the commerce page of a respective web site.According to some embodiments, the web site owner may also be enabled tocustomize the relationships between some or all of the various symbolsand the site's web pages, particularly if the standardized symbologydoes not meet the needs of the web site. After the relationships areestablished between symbols and web pages, the notification module 74may be configured to notify the web site owner of a summary of theestablished relationships.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the resource requesthandling program 70 shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the resourcerequest handling program 70 includes a resource request receiving module75, an envelope extraction module 76, a character string extractionmodule 78, a lookup module 80, an address transfer module 82, a trackingmodule 84, a reporting module 86, and a web site action performingmodule 88. Also shown in FIG. 7 is the database 64 shown in FIGS. 5 and6. The database 64 in this embodiment includes a web page address table90, which may be divided into an abbreviated site name table 92 and apage symbol table 94. The database 64 also includes an advertising codetable 96 and a web site action table 98.

The resource request receiving module 75 is configured to initiallyreceive a resource request (i.e., the abbreviated resource request) froman end user device 14. The resource request receiving module 75 forwardsthe resource request to the envelope extraction module 76 and thecharacter string extraction module 78. The envelope extraction module 76is configured to extract information regarding when the request wasreceived (e.g., date and time information), the location of the end user(if the end user allows this information on a privacy opt in), the nameof the end user (if opted in), the gender of the end user (if opted in),and other extractable demographic and psychographic information aboutthe end user.

The character string extraction module 78 is configured to extract theabbreviated resource request into at least two portions, depending onthe particular implementation. A first portion of the string ofcharacters is an abbreviated site name, such as, according to one of theexamples above, the name “HarryPotter.” For the purpose of illustration,another example is considered in which an abbreviated name “Doctor” isissued to a web site owner to designate a specific web page. In thisexample, the web site may be http://en.wikipedia.org/ and the web pagemay be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician.

A second portion of the string of characters extracted by the characterstring extraction module 78 is a page symbol. The page symbol is asymbol (e.g., “?,” “!,” “$,” “&,” “#,” etc.) that is used foridentifying a specific web page of the particular web site. For example,the symbol “.” may represent a request to view the home page of the website; the symbol “?” may represent a request to view an information webpage, customer service web page, or help web page; the symbol “$” mayrepresent a request to view a commerce related web page of the web site;and the symbol “%” may represent a request to view a quotation sectionfor citations and references relating to the web site. Other symbols maybe used for providing a standardized or customized map for directing theuser's web browser to a web page within a web site. Returning to one ofthe example used above, an abbreviated resource request of“HarryPotter$” sends the web browser to the commerce or purchase pagefor the Harry Potter Theme Park web site.

An optional third portion of the string of characters, if one exists inthe resource request, is an advertising code. The character stringextraction module 78 may be configured to extract the advertising code,which may be used to identify the originating source where the end userobtained the abbreviated resource request. For example, if theabbreviated resource request is “Doctor.4z”, the portion “4z” representsthe advertising code. In some embodiments, this third portion may be anynumber of characters. According to various implementations, the numberof characters is two, where each character is a numeral or a letter. Forexample, with 26 letters in the English alphabet and 10 numerals, atotal of 36 characters can be arranged in any combination to provide1296 permutations. If lower case letters are distinguished from uppercase letters, the total number of characters may be 62, providing 3844permutations.

The advertising code can be used to designate different places where theweb site owner may place advertisements. As an example, advertisementsmay be placed in magazines, newspapers, television commercials,billboards, etc. Also, various publication dates of the printed materialmay be distinguished from one another by including different advertisingcodes. Commercial spots on different television channels at differenttimes of the day may be distinctly identified, if desired. In addition,a billboard may have a distinct advertising code from other billboards.In some implementations, the advertising code may be standardized foreach web site. For example, the advertising code “4z” may be used by oneor more web site owners to represent a common advertisement (e.g., anadvertisement in a July 2010 publication of a Reader's Digest magazine).In some implementations, the advertising codes may be customized foreach specific web site, which allows the web site owner to match theadvertising codes with advertising outlets that are actually used forthe web site. The following codes may be used, for example, to representdifferent media outlets:

.1A=Time magazine

.1B=Newsweek

.4H=Vanity Fair

.5R=Oprah Winfrey Show, Friday commercial spot

.6S=Oprah Winfrey Show, Saturday commercial spot

.6M=Billboard on 1-85 in Atlanta, Ga.

.7Z=Billboard on 1-595 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

An optional fourth portion of the string of characters, if one exists inthe resource request, is a web site action code. The character stringextraction module 78 may be configured to extract the web site actioncode, which may be formatted in any manner. In some embodiments, theformat of the web site action code may include using a symbol (e.g., acomma, colon, semi-colon, etc.) followed by a single character. Forexample, a web site action code of “:e” may designate that the end userwishes to send an e-mail to someone on the web site. The codes “:t”,“:f”, “:m”, and “:a” may represent an end user's desire to link to arespective social networks on the web site, such as Twitter (“:t”),Facebook (“:f”), My Space (“:m”), and Atomic Guppy (“:a”). The code “:c”may represent a commerce page; “:I” may represent an information page;“:r” may represent a root menu page; “:d” may represent a downloadingsection; and “:s” (or “:g” for “Google”) may represent a search page.These and/or other codes can be used to represent various web siteactions. Also, it should be noted that these codes may be standardizedfor multiple web pages to allow the end users to be familiarized withcommon web page searching and action performing commands.

The character string extraction module 78 outputs the extracted portionsof the character string of the abbreviated resource request. Assuggested above, the character string extraction module 78 outputs theabbreviated site name and page symbol from the extracted resourcerequest and may optionally output third and/or fourth portionsrepresenting the advertising code and web site action. The up to fouroutputs are supplied to the lookup module 80.

The lookup module 80 is configured to match the first extracted portion(i.e., the abbreviated site name) with data in the abbreviated site nametable 92. In the abbreviated site name table 92, the first extractedportion is matched with a corresponding web site or URL address of thecorresponding web site. Also, the lookup module 80 is configured tomatch the second extracted portion (i.e., the page symbol) with data inthe page symbol table 94. In the page symbol table 94, the secondextracted portion is matched with a corresponding web page or URLaddress of the corresponding web page, where the web page is an internalpage of the web site matched with respect to the first extractedportion. When the particular web page or URL address of the web page ismatched with the data in the web page address table 90, the lookup table80 forwards the URL address of the web page to the address transfermodule 82, which is configured to transfer the end user's web browser tothe decoded URL address.

The lookup module 80 may also be configured to match the third extractedportion (i.e., the advertising code) with data in the advertising codetable 96. In the advertising code table 96, the third extracted portionis matched with a corresponding advertising media outlet. Informationabout the media outlets that led the end user to access the specific websites may be forwarded to the tracking module 84, which tracks theeffectiveness of each media outlet. The effectiveness may be based inpart on the number web site hits credited to the media outlets asrevealed by the advertising codes in the abbreviated resource requests.

In addition, the tracking module 84 may also receive information aboutthe end user from the envelope extraction module 76. With thecombination of end user data (e.g., demographic information) and theoriginating source of advertising outlets where the end user was exposedto the abbreviated site name, the tracking module 84 may be configuredto calculate demographics, the effectiveness of various media outlets,and other results. The advertising media channels or outlets may includevarious magazines, books, television programs, billboards, movies, orother outlets. By tracking the sources where the abbreviated names areadvertised, the tracking module 84 may be able to accumulate and storeresults of each advertising medium.

Upon request or at predetermined time intervals (e.g., quarterly), theresults of the tracking module 84 may be transmitted to the reportingmodule 86. The reporting module 86 may be configured to automaticallyreport the effectiveness of the various advertising media outlets andother advertising and/or demographic information to the web site owner.The reporting module 86 may utilize any combination of data, charts,tables, definitions, etc. to present the report results to the web siteowners.

The lookup module 80 may also be configured to match the fourthextracted portion (i.e., the web site action performing code) with datain the web site action table 98. In the web site action table 98, thefourth extracted portion is matched with a corresponding action,command, or function to be performed in the specific web site. Thelookup module 80 forwards the action to be performed to the web siteaction performing module 88, which is configured to perform the specificaction on the web site. For example, web site actions may includesending an e-mail to someone on the web site, using a social network tocontact someone on the web site, linking to a purchasing section of theweb site, obtaining information from the web site, downloading contentfrom the web site, performing a text search on the web site, or otheractions.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for issuingabbreviated resource request names to the owner of a web site. Themethod of FIG. 8 includes receiving a request from a web site owner toreserve an abbreviated name for a web site, as indicated in block 102.In some embodiments, the process of block 102 may be fulfilled by thename request receiving module 71 shown in FIG. 6. According to block104, the request is compared with abbreviated names already reserved. Asindicated in decision block 106, it is determined whether or not therequested abbreviated name is already reserved. If it is determined thatthe name is not taken, the method proceeds to block 108, which indicatesthat the requested abbreviated name is issued to the requesting web siteowner. In some embodiments, the requested name may be registered withthe web site for a predetermined time period (e.g., one year). In thiscase, the method may further include processes for renewing names, ifdesired. According to some embodiments, the process of blocks 104, 106,and 108 may be fulfilled by the database management system 73 shown inFIG. 6.

If it is determined in decision block 106 that the abbreviated name isalready reserved, then the method proceeds to block 110, which indicatesthat the requestor is notified that the name is unavailable.Notification may be fulfilled by the notification module 74. The methodthen proceeds to decision block 112, which indicates that adetermination is made whether or not the web site owner wishes to makeanother request. If so, the method returns back to block 102 and themethod may be repeated. If the web site owner does not wish to makeanother request, the method ends.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for establishingrelationships of portions of abbreviated resource requests with aspectsof a web page. According to various implementations, the method of FIG.9 may be accomplished by the relationship establishing module 72 anddatabase management system 73 shown in FIG. 6. The method of FIG. 9includes receiving a URL address for a web page associated with a website accessible by an abbreviated resource request, as indicated inblock 116. The method also includes matching a predefined symbol in adatabase with the URL address of the web page, as indicated in block118. In decision block 119, it is determined whether more web pages areto be matched with symbols. If so, the method returns back to block 116.Otherwise, the method proceeds to block 120.

In block 120, a predetermined advertising code is matched with anadvertising medium, which allows customization of advertising codes forthe particular web site. In some embodiments, however, the advertisingcodes may be preset for various advertising media to standardize thecodes for all web sites. As indicated in decision block 121, it isdetermined whether or not more advertising codes are to be matched. Ifso, the method loops back to block 120. If not, the method proceeds toblock 122.

As indicated in block 122, a predetermined suffix is matched with anaction to be taken within the web site. As indicated in decision block124, it is determined whether more actions need to be defined. If so,the method loops back to block 122 to match additional suffixes withactions. If no more actions are to be defined, the method ends.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for managingabbreviated resource requests. As illustrated, the method comprisesreceiving a resource request (e.g., an abbreviated resource request), asindicated in block 128. Receiving the resource request may beaccomplished by the resource request receiving module 75 shown in FIG.7. As indicated in block 130, the method further includes extracting theresource request into a string of characters, which may be performed bythe character string extraction module 78. For example, the string ofcharacters may include a first portion that represents an abbreviatedsite name, a second portion that represents a page symbol, and optionalthird and fourth portions. The optional third portion of the extractedcharacter string represents an advertising code and the optional fourthportion represents a web site action code.

As indicated in block 132, the abbreviated site name (i.e., the firstportion of the extracted string) is matched with a web site. Thematching step may be performed by the lookup module 80 and may includematching the abbreviated site name with an entry in a database. Asindicated in block 134, the method further includes matching the pagesymbol (i.e., the second portion) with a web page of the matched website. Block 134 may also be fulfilled by the lookup module 80. Block 136indicates that the web browser from which the resource request wasreceived is transferred to the URL address of the matched web page,which may be performed by the address transfer module 82.

The method of FIG. 10 also includes a route 138 that leads from block130 to an advertisement tracking branch. This branch may be performed inparallel with the steps of blocks 132, 134, and 136. In theadvertisement tracking branch, block 140 indicates that envelopeinformation is extracted from the resource request received with respectto block 128. The envelope information may include time and dateinformation, end user location information, personal data, demographicinformation, etc. The extraction of the envelope information may beaccomplished by the envelope extracting module 76.

According to block 142, the method includes matching the advertisingcode (i.e., the third portion of the extracted request) with advertisingmedium information, which may be performed by the lookup module 80. Asindicated in block 144, the end user and advertising information istracked and recorded (e.g., by the tracking module 84). As indicated inblock 146, the information accumulated with respect to block 144 isreported to a web site owner. The information may be reported uponrequest, as indicated in block 146, or may be reported on apredetermined schedule (e.g., monthly or quarterly).

The method of FIG. 10 further includes a route 148 that leads from block132 to a web site action branch. This branch may be performed inparallel with the steps of blocks 134 and 136. In the web site actionbranch, block 150 indicates that the web site action code (i.e., thefourth portion) is matched with an action to be taken at the specificweb site. The matching step of block 150 may be performed, for example,by the lookup module 80. As indicated in block 152, the desired actionis performed (e.g., by the web site action performing module 88) on thematched web site. Actions to be performed may include sending an e-mailto an address on the web site, using a social network to contact someoneon the web site, traversing to a commerce section of the web site,traversing to an information page of the web site, downloading contentfrom the web site, performing a text search on the web site, among otheractions.

Any process descriptions or blocks in the flow diagrams should beunderstood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, etc.,which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are also included within the scope of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure, in which functions may be executed out of orderfrom that shown or described, including substantially concurrently or inreverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would beunderstood by those reasonably skilled in the art.

The various embodiments of computer programs, software, methods,processes, and functions described herein may comprise an orderedlisting of executable instructions for implementing logical functions.The instructions may be configured, embodied, or implemented in anytangible computer-readable medium for use by an instruction executionsystem or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-controlledsystem, etc. A computer-readable medium, as described herein, mayinclude any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, ortransport programs for execution by the instruction execution system ordevice. Examples of computer-readable media may include electronic,magnetic, electromagnetic, optical, infrared, or other types of mediareadable by compatible systems or devices.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merelyexamples of possible implementations. Many variations and modificationsmay be made to the above-described embodiments without departing fromthe principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications andvariations are intended to be included herein within the spirit andscope of the present disclosure and protected by the following claims.

1. An end user device comprising: a network interface controllerconfigured to enable communication between the end user device and anetwork; a web browser configured to retrieve content from one or moreweb pages on the network; a scanner configured to scan an encoded image;and decoding software associated with the scanner, the decoding softwareconfigured to decode the encoded image to obtain a resource request;wherein the decoding software is further configured to enter theresource request into an address window of the web browser to enable theweb browser to retrieve content from a web page associated with theresource request.
 2. The end user device of claim 1, wherein the encodedimage is selected from one of a barcode, a color symbology code,alphanumeric code, and advanced tags.
 3. The end user device of claim 1,wherein the end user device is one of a desktop computer and a laptopcomputer.
 4. The end user device of claim 1, wherein the end user deviceis a portable electronic device.
 5. The end user device of claim 4,wherein the end user device is a mobile phone.
 6. The end user device ofclaim 1, wherein the web browser comprises a format analyzing moduleconfigured to determine whether the resource request is in a normallyrecognizable format or in an abbreviated format.
 7. The end user deviceof claim 6, wherein the normally recognizable format comprises anextension selected from one of .com, .net, .org, .gov, .mobi, and .tv,and the abbreviated format comprising an abbreviated site name and asuffix.
 8. The end user device of claim 7, wherein the web browserfurther comprises a network browsing module configured to receive theresource request when the resource request is in the normallyrecognizable format, the network browsing module further configured toretrieve content from a web page.
 9. The end user device of claim 7,wherein the web browser further comprises a relay server communicationmodule configured to receive the resource request when the resourcerequest is in the abbreviated format, the relay server communicationmodule further configured to transmit the abbreviated resource requestto a relay server on the network.
 10. A computer program tangibly storedon a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by aprocessing device, the computer program comprising: logic adapted toreceive a scanned image of an encoded resource request; logic adapted todecode the scanned image to obtain a resource request; logic adapted toanalyze a format of the resource request to determine if the formatmeets a condition in which an ending of the resource request includesone of .com, .net, .org, .gov, .mobi, or .tv; logic adapted to browse anetwork when the format meets the condition; and logic adapted totransmit the resource request to a relay server when the format does notmeet the condition.
 11. The computer program of claim 10, wherein theencoded resource request is in a form selected from a bar code, anadvanced bar code, and an alphanumeric code.
 12. The computer program ofclaim 10, wherein the logic adapted to transmit the resource request tothe relay server is further configured to transmit an abbreviatedresource request.
 13. The computer program of claim 12, wherein theabbreviated resource request includes an abbreviated name and a suffix.14. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the suffix comprises apage symbol that is configured to be matched with a web page by therelay server.
 15. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the suffixcomprises an advertising code that is configured to be matched with anadvertising medium by the relay server.
 16. The computer program ofclaim 13, wherein the suffix comprises a web site action that isconfigured to be performed by the relay server.
 17. A network browsingdevice comprising: a network interface controller configured to enablecommunication with a web server via a network; a web browser configuredto retrieve content from a web page associated with the web server; anda scanning device configured to scan a barcode related to a resourcerequest, the scanning device further configured to decode the barcode toobtain the related resource request, the resource request includinginformation enabling access to the web page; wherein the scanning deviceis further configured to enter the resource request into an addresswindow of the web browser to enable the web browser to retrieve contentfrom the web page; wherein the web browser comprises a format analyzingmodule configured to determine whether the resource request is in anormally recognizable format or in an abbreviated format, the normallyrecognizable format comprising an extension selected from one or .com,.net, .org, .gov, .mobi, and .tv, and the abbreviated format comprisingan abbreviated site name and a suffix.
 18. The network browsing deviceof claim 17, wherein the web browser further comprises a relay servercommunication module configured to receive a resource request in theabbreviated format, the relay server communication module furtherconfigured to transmit the abbreviated resource request to a relayserver via the network.
 19. The network browsing device of claim 17,wherein the abbreviated resource request includes an abbreviated nameand a suffix.
 20. The network browsing device of claim 19, wherein thesuffix comprises at least one of a page symbol that is configured to bematched by the relay server with a web page, an advertising code that isconfigured to be matched b the relay server with an advertising medium,and a web site action that is configured to be performed by the relayserver.